Welcome to our Focus on the Olympics articles that introduces you to our Olympic athletes and hopefuls that will be competing in Beijing this summer. 
Meet Kelci Bryant
Kelci Bryant is the daughter of Randy and Kathie Bryant. She has two sisters, Katie Beth and Kara, and two brothers, Kevin and Steve. All four of her siblings are or were college athletes; Katie Beth was a five-time national champion diver at University of Miami, Kevin played baseball at Morehead State, Kara swam at Milliken University and Steve plays baseball at Rend Lake College. Kelci has never trained for diving in her hometown of Chatham, Ill. She only began diving in 1997 when she trained in St. Louis (100 miles away), then trained at Illinois State (60 miles away), then at Purdue (200 miles away). She now lives near the U.S. National Training Center in Indianapolis while training under Wenbo Chen.
Kelci’s partnership with Ariel Rittenhouse formed after their mothers, Kathie Bryant and Sharon Rittenhouse, discussed and suggested it to them. Her favorite dive is a 205B – a backwards 2½ pike somersault. In between dives, she listens to music, reads or visualizes her dives.
Why Root for Her?
The United States hasn’t won an Olympic medal in diving since its introduction in 2000, but Bryant and her synchro partner Ariel Rittenhouse are making waves. The pair won the synchronized 3-meter competition at the FINA Grand Prix Super Final in Guadalajara, Mexico, last November. They defeated 2006 World Cup champions Guo Jingjing and Li Ting of China, the team many expect to take the gold medal in Beijing next year.
Performance Record
- 2007 Pan American Games women’s synchronized 3m silver medalist, 3m bronze medalist
- 2007 Kaiser Permanente National Championships women’s synchronized 3m champion
- 2007 Speedo USA Diving National Championships women’s 3m silver medalist
- 2006 Speedo U.S. Open women’s synchronized 3m champion
- 2006 FINA Diving Mexico Grand Prix Super Final women’s synchronized 3m champion
- 2006 FINA Diving China World Cup women’s synchronized 3m silver medalist
The U.S. Olympic Diving trials will be held June 18-22.